Love and Respect

The message given in the Sunday night worship service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church.  The Bible verses used are 1 John 4:7-19.

            Are you afraid of God?  Do you fear God?

Well, the Bible seems to tell us we should.  The phrase, “the fear of the Lord” appears in the Bible over and over again.  It appears eighty-six times in the New International Version.  Fifteen of them are in the Psalms.  Twelve of them are in Proverbs.  We’re told that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”  “The fear of the Lord adds length to life.”  “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life.”  “Through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided.”  

            All these quotes tell us that fear of the Lord is a good thing.  In fact, they make it sound like a necessary thing.  There’s no wisdom or knowledge without fear of the Lord.  Fear of the Lord leads to a longer and a better life.  We avoid evil by fear of the Lord.

            Does that make sense to you?  Does it make sense that we should actually fear God?  Does it make sense that the fear of the Lord would be a good thing?

            Well, let’s think about it a little.  We know that God has a lot of power, right?  In fact, God is all-powerful.  And God can use that power in any way God chooses.  I mean, that’s part of what makes God, God.  No one gets to tell God what to do.  Now, it’s great that God is all-powerful when we get the benefits of God’s power.  But if you or I was on the wrong end of God’s power, well, we’d have a pretty good reason to be afraid.  Our fear of the Lord would be completely real at that point.

            We also know that God is holy and righteous and perfect.  And we know that we are not.  We know how far short we fall, not only of who God is but of who we should be.  We know that we have a sinful nature, and we know that we give in to that sinful nature far too often.  That means that God would have every right to punish us for our sins if God chose to.  Knowing that, it’s easy to see where we might be afraid of God.  We might very well feel fear of the Lord.

            But we say, wait a minute.  God would never use God’s power against us.  God would not punish us for our sins.  God is our Father.  God is our friend.  God loves us.  God forgives us.  God is merciful toward us.  God protects us.  We don’t need to fear God.  Our loving, caring, merciful God would never do anything like that to us.

            [Well, that’s what the people of Israel used to think, too.  They told themselves they were God’s chosen people.  They told themselves they did not need to fear God.  God had singled them out for special treatment.  And they believed that would be true no matter what they did and no matter what they said.  They said, well, we don’t have to fear God.  God’s going to take care of us no matter what we do.

            The people of Israel decided they did not need to have any fear of God.  They thought they could do whatever they wanted to do and there would be no consequences.  They thought God owed it to them to keep them prosperous and powerful no matter what they did.  But of course, they found out differently.  God does not owe anyone anything.  God does love us, but God is not willing to be taken advantage of.  God is not willing to be taken for granted.  God will not be treated as a Get out of Jail Free card, something we pull out of our pocket to keep us from having to face the consequences of what we’ve done.  And when we treat God that way, God will show us why we should not have.  And then we’ll find out why the people who wrote the Bible told us that having some fear of the Lord is a good thing.

            Now, we can carry fear of the Lord too far, too.  God is not sitting in heaven looking for reasons to punish us.  God is not keeping an eagle-eye on us, hoping to catch us doing something wrong so God can step in and squash us.  God does not want us to be so scared of God that we’re afraid to approach Him, afraid to pray to Him, afraid to do anything for fear that we might do something wrong and provoke God to anger.  I’ve said before that we don’t worship an angry God, and I still believe that.

            When we talk about fear of the Lord, we’re actually talking about a couple of things.  One of them is respect.  Showing some fear of the Lord shows that we respect God.  Not just that we respect God’s power, although that’s part of it.  But we also respect God’s greatness.  And we respect God’s goodness.  We realize that God deserves our respect, and we also realize that there may be consequences to us if we don’t.  

When we say, well, I can do whatever I want and God will forgive me, we’re showing disrespect for God.  When we feel free to just ignore what God has told us to do because God owes it to us to forgive us, we’re showing disrespect for God.  And there are consequences for that.  As the Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians Chapter Six, God cannot be mocked.  God deserves our respect.  And if we don’t give God that respect, God is going to do something about that.  

Another things we’re talking about is repentance.  Because we know that, even if we’re trying to be good people and do what’s right, we’re going to fail sometimes.  All of us do.  Sometimes we’re going to say the wrong thing, or do the wrong thing.  Sometimes we’re going to get angry or frustrated, and that anger and frustration is going to get the best of us.  Sometimes we’re going to have selfish impulses, and we’re going to act on them.  That’s what we mean when we talk about having a sinful nature.  We do these things, even when we know better and even when we’re trying not to.

And God understands that.  But that’s why repentance is so important.  Because repentance is another sign of respect for God.  It’s a recognition that when we do these things that we know we should not do, we’ve failed God.  It’s an apology to God, but it’s more than that.  It’s telling God that we know we’re not just free to ignore God and do anything we want.  It’s telling God we know we’ve let God down, that God deserves better than that from us.  It’s telling God that we know God would have every right to punish us for our sins, but that if God will forgive us and give us another chance, we’ll try our best not to let God down the next time.  If we don’t repent of our sins, we’re showing disrespect for God.  And again, there are consequences for that.

When the people of Israel decided they did not need to fear God, what were they saying?  They were saying they did not repent of their sins.  They did not need to respect God.  And here’s the thing about that:  If you don’t respect someone, you really don’t love them, do you?  You cannot really feel love for someone you don’t respect.  You might like them.  You might want to use them.  You might even feel sorry for them.  But you cannot love someone if you don’t respect them.

And that’s what the Apostle John is talking about when he says that there is no fear in love, that perfect love drives out fear.  If we love God, we will respect God.  If we love God, we won’t take God for granted.  If we love God, we won’t think we can do anything we want and God will always bail us out.  We’ll still fail, sometimes, but if we love God, then when we fail we’ll go to God and repent of our sins and ask for forgiveness.  We’ll want to do that, because we’ll know God deserves better than that from us.  We’ll know that we’ve let God down, and we’ll want to make it right.  Not because we’re scared of what God will do to us if we don’t, but because we love God that much.

Listen to how John says this works:  “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.”

We rely on the love God has for us.  Not “we take for granted the love God has for us.”  But we rely on God’s love.  We rely on God’s love because we respect God.  We respect God enough to trust that God will keep God’s promises.  We respect God enough to know that when we repent of our sins, God will forgive us and give us another chance.  Not because God owes that to us.  But because God loves us, and we can rely on God’s love.

If we take God for granted, if we feel like God owes us love, if we feel like God owes us anything, we’re disrespecting God and we’re failing to love God.  And then, we might well have reason to fear God.  But if we love God, we will respect God and trust God.  We’ll do our best to return that love to God, and we’ll repent and ask for forgiveness when we fail.  And then, we’ll have no reason to fear God.  Because we’ll feel the perfect love of God, and perfect love drives out fear.

 

Seek First God's Kingdom

The message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday morning, May 1, 2022.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 6:25-34.

            This is one of my all-time favorite passages of scripture.  It is for a lot of people, actually.  This passage routinely makes the lists of most popular scripture passages.

            It’s pretty easy to see why.  It’s about worry, and worry is the one thing that just about everyone has in common.  It does not matter where you live.  It does not matter what you do.  It does not matter how much money you have.  It does not matter what gender you are, what race you are, what age you are, anything.  The one thing pretty much everyone does is worry.

            Everybody’s worried about something.  My worries may not be the same as yours, but we all have them.  And if we ever run out of things to worry about, all we have to do is look at the news.  The news is pretty much a list of things to worry about every day.

For the most part, we wish we did not have these worries.  We wish that somehow, in some way, something or someone could come along and take all our worries away.  But it does not happen.  If we ever do get rid of one worry, here come three more to take its place.  One of the things that makes heaven so appealing is we assume that, in heaven, there are no worries.  After all, it would not be heaven if we had worries there, right?  In heaven, God will take all our worries away.

But the thing is, God will do that for us on earth, too, if we just let Him.  And Jesus tells us how God will do that.  And you know the funny thing?  The verse in which Jesus tells us that is the verse we tend to pay the least attention to.  I do, anyway.

Look at what Jesus says.  He says, don’t worry about food or drink.  After all, Jesus says, God feeds the birds and takes care of them, and you’re worth more than a bird.  He says, don’t worry about clothes.  After all, Jesus says, God makes the flowers look beautiful, and you’re a lot more valuable than a flower.  Jesus says, you don’t need to worry about any of that stuff.  God knows you need that stuff, and God will take care of it.  So don’t worry about tomorrow.  Tomorrow will take care of itself.  Each day has enough trouble, so just concern yourself with today.

And we really like all that.  The idea that we don’t need to worry about food, or drink, or clothes, or anything else--that’s really appealing.  The idea that we don’t need to worry about tomorrow, that all we need to do is concern ourselves with today--that’s really appealing, too.  We like all that stuff.

But did you notice that I skipped over one of the verses?  This is the one I said that we tend to not pay attention to, or at least I don’t.  And yet, it’s probably the most important verse in the whole passage.  It’s the verse that tells us how we can get rid of all those worries and turn them over to God.  Here it is:  “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.”  It’s simple, right?  If we want to get rid of our worries, all we need to do is focus on God.  Seek God’s kingdom.  Seek God’s righteousness.  In other words, serve God.  Do God’s will.  Live our lives the way God wants us to live them.  

All it is, really, is a matter of priorities.  Our tendency, as human beings, is to prioritize our own needs and wants.  That’s why, in Jesus’ words, we “run after all these things”.  That’s why we worry about them.  We believe we need to take care of ourselves first.  Once we get that done then, if we have time, we’ll start doing things for the kingdom of God.  But first we need to provide for ourselves.  God surely understands that, right?

And don’t think I’m pointing a finger at anyone here.  This is every bit as much my tendency as anyone’s.  It’s probably more my tendency that it is for some of you.  But it seems to me that it’s a natural human thing.  It’s part of the survival instinct God put into each one of us.  We feel like we need to take care of ourselves, and of our families, first.

But Jesus tells us we need to go beyond natural human things.  Now, Jesus does not say that it’s wrong to want to take care of ourselves and our families.  But Jesus says, if we would prioritize what God wants, if we would put God first, we would not have to worry about all that stuff.  If we would serve God, do God’s will, seek God’s kingdom, God would take care of all those other things for us.  We would not need to run after them.  They’d be given to us.

So what’s the problem?  Well, the problem is that it’s just darn hard for us to trust God that much.  We know we should.  It sounds good in theory.  But to actually trust God that much, to actually make seeking God’s kingdom our number one priority, to actually believe that if we spend our time seeking the kingdom of God, God will take care of us and give us everything we need--well, that’s a pretty big leap of faith.  

It’s a leap of faith that a lot of us just simply are not willing to take.  We may know we should.  We may even want to.  After all, what Jesus offers us sounds really good.  Freedom from worry.  Who would not want that?  We’d love to have that.  But--man, can I really do that?  Can I really put that much trust in God?  Can I really just put the main focus of my life on seeking God’s kingdom, and just take it on faith that if I do, God will provide me with everything I need?  That’s a lot of faith.  Do I have that much faith?  Do you?

Now, I do want to point out one thing.  Jesus does not say that if we don’t do this, we’ll go to hell.  Our salvation is based on our faith in Jesus as the Savior.  Jesus understands how hard this is for us.  Jesus knows that we’re flawed, weak, imperfect human beings.  We should not use that as an excuse, of course.  But Jesus’ point is not “do this or else.”

Jesus point is that we would be so much happier if we did this.  We truly could live a life free from worry if we did this.  If we could just trust God.  If we could just trust in the greatness and the goodness of God.  If we could just trust in the love of God.  If we could have enough faith to believe that Jesus’ words are true:  that if we seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, all these other things will be given to us as well.  If we could just do that, we would never have to worry about anything ever again.

So, does that mean we should all quit our jobs and completely change our lives so we can seek God’s kingdom?  No, not necessarily.  But it does mean that we need to re-orient our lives.  It’s possible that seeking God’s kingdom first may mean we need to make some changes in our lives.  But it’s also possible that the biggest change seeking God’s kingdom first requires us to make is in our attitude.

Think about the things you do.  Could you use those things to serve God’s kingdom?  Think about the people you spend time with.  Is there something you could do while you’re with them to serve God’s kingdom?  Think about the things you say to people.  Are there things you could say to them that would serve God’s kingdom?  In fact, sometimes what we need to do is think about the thoughts we think.  Are our thoughts, whether they’re expressed or not, thoughts that lead us to serve God’s kingdom?

These are not questions we can answer in a minute or two.  If we all leave here after the service and don’t think about this, nothing is going to change.  And I include myself in that, too.  If I leave here and don’t think about this, if I start thinking ahead to the Sunday night service and next week’s service and just forget all about what I said here today, nothing is going to change.  I’ll stay in the same spot I am right now.  And I’ll have all the same worries and fears and concerns that I have now.  That’s how it will work for all of us.  If we don’t think about this, if we don’t take it to heart, we’ll all just go on with the same worries and fears and concerns that we have now.

And maybe you’re okay with that.  Maybe you think things are okay the way they are.  And maybe they are okay.  But wouldn’t you like them to be better?  Wouldn’t we all like them to be better?  Wouldn’t we all like to be able to live our lives without all those worries and fears and concerns?  

Jesus offers us the chance to do that.  All we need to do is seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness.  If we do that, Jesus promises us that all we need will be given to us.  

We can take that leap of faith, make God’s kingdom our top priority, and be free from worry and fear.  Or, we can continue to live as we are, with all of our human worries and fears.

Which will it be?

 

Jesus and the Nobodies

The message given in the Sunday night service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on April 24, 2022.  The Bible verses used are Luke 24:13-35.

            When you think of Jesus’ time on earth, who do you always think of as being with him?  The twelve disciples, right?  Peter, James, John, Andrew, Thomas, all the rest of them.  These were Jesus’ closest associates while he was on earth.  These are the ones who were with Jesus the most.

            But the twelve are not the only disciples Jesus had.  There were lots of people who would’ve called themselves disciples of Jesus.  A disciple, after all, is simply a follower.  There were lots more people than just the twelve who were followers of Jesus.

            We meet two of them in our story today.  Now, this was obviously after Jesus was crucified.  It’s after the tomb was found to be empty.  Two people are leaving Jerusalem, walking toward a town called Emmaus.  The only thing we know about Emmaus is that it was about seven miles from Jerusalem.  It apparently was a small town--in fact, it’s referred to as a “village”.  It’s apparently not a very important place--this is the only time in the Bible that it’s even mentioned.  We don’t know why these two people were going there--maybe they lived there, maybe they had business there, maybe this was just a stopping place on the way to somewhere else.

            And of course, you just heard the story.  They’re walking along, discussing all the things that have happened--Jesus being arrested and killed, the empty tomb, the rumor that Jesus was still alive.  Jesus joins them, but they don’t realize that it’s Jesus.  They start telling Jesus what’s happened, and Jesus explains things to them.  And that must have taken some time--we’re told that “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself”.

            They invite Jesus to stay with them.  Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and gives it to them.  At that moment, they recognize Jesus.  And immediately, he vanishes.

            We’ve said before that, when we read things like this, we need to ask the question:  Why is this in the Bible?  I mean, yes, it’s another appearance of the resurrected Jesus, and that in and of itself would make it noteworthy.  But is that it?  Is that the only thing we’re supposed to learn?  Or is there more to this event than that?

            Well, obviously, I would not have raised the question if I did not think there was.  So let’s look at this event a little closer.

            There are two people walking down a road to a village called Emmaus.  One of them is named Cleopas.  So who was Cleopas?

            Basically, he was nobody.  This is the only time in the Bible Cleopas is ever mentioned.  Over the years, all sorts of things came to be said about him, trying to make him out to be an important person.  One story said he was the brother of Joseph, Mary’s husband.  Another story says that he was also known as Alphaeus and that he was the father of one of the disciples.  But the fact is that the only things the Bible tells us about him are that he was a follower of Jesus, that he and another person were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus on the day the empty tomb was found, that Jesus appeared to them, and that they apparently were known to the twelve disciples, because they knew where to find them and were welcomed in when they went back to Jerusalem after Jesus vanished.

            So that’s Cleopas.  Who was the person with him?  He’s even more of a nobody than Cleopas.  We have no idea who he was.  We don’t even get his name.  In fact, we don’t even know if he was a he!  Again, the only things the Bible tell us are that this person was a follower of Jesus, was walking with Cleopas from Jerusalem to Emmaus, the Jesus appeared to them, and that, again, they were apparently known to the twelve disciples.  That’s it.

            Cleopas was nobody.  His companion was even less.  Except for one thing.  Both of them were followers of Jesus.  And that was enough.  That was enough for Jesus to come back and appear specifically to them.  It was enough for Jesus to spend what must have been quite a bit of time with them.  In fact, it was enough for Jesus to explain all the things said in Scripture about himself, going back all the way to Moses and the prophets.

            What an awesome thing that must have been.  They say, later, that their hearts were burning inside them when Jesus was talking to them.  That must have been the most incredible thing that ever happened to these two people in their lives.  To have the resurrected Jesus explaining the Scriptures to you.  

I mean, I know they did not know it was Jesus, but they had to know it was somebody pretty special.  Imagine Jesus, with all the knowledge he would have, knowing things that no human being would know, explaining the Scriptures.  Explaining them in a way that no human being possibly could.  And imagine him doing that specifically for you.  Not as part of a lecture, not with you standing in the crowd, but explaining them personally to you.  That must have been incredible.  That must have been life-changing.  And Jesus did that, not for a king, not for the Jewish elders, not for the Pharisees or the ruling council or anybody like that.  Jesus did that for two nobodies.  Cleopas and someone who’s so much of a nobody we don’t even learn their name.

Do you ever feel like you’re a nobody?  It’s pretty easy to do.  We don’t live in a place that most people would consider important.  Very few people outside of South Dakota have even heard of it.  In fact, even in South Dakota, I run into a lot of people who don’t know where it is.  It’s just a small town.  A village, really.  Sort of like Emmaus.

And most people would not consider any of us to be very important, either.  None of us here is special.  None of us here is famous.  Outside of our families and a few friends, most people would not know our names or know anything about us.  We’re just a bunch of nobodies here.  Sort of like Cleopas and his companion.  

It’s easy for us to think of ourselves as nobodies from nowhere.  And when we do, we wonder if God could really care about us.  I mean, we say it all the time.  We talk about how God is love and how Jesus was sent to earth for the forgiveness of our sins.  And a lot of us believe it, at least in general terms.  But did Jesus truly die to save me?  An unimportant person like me?  A nobody from nowhere like me?  Could God really love me that much?

Society considers all of us a bunch of nobodies from nowhere.  Just as it sounds like society considered Cleopas and his companion a couple of nobodies from nowhere.  But to Jesus, Cleopas and his companion were not nobodies from nowhere at all.  They were God’s precious children.  They were Jesus’ important followers.  And Jesus was willing to spend all kinds of time with them.  He was willing to explain all the Scriptures that talked about him.  He was willing to stay with them until they came to understand and believe.

That’s how Jesus looks at you and me, too.  We are not nobodies from nowhere.  Nobody is a nobody to Jesus.  There is no such thing as a nobody to Jesus.  To Jesus, each one of us is important.  To Jesus, each one of us is special.  To Jesus, each one of us is one of God’s precious children.  Each one of us is Jesus’ important follower.  Each one of us is the most important person in the world to Jesus.  And Jesus wants each one of us to understand and believe, just as he wanted Cleopas and his companion to understand and believe.

Jesus came specifically for all of us nobodies.  Jesus came specifically so that all of us nobodies from nowhere could be saved.  Now don’t get me wrong.  Jesus loves everybody.  Jesus wants the rich and the powerful and the famous to be saved, too.  But that’s the point.  In Jesus’ eyes--in God’s eyes--we’re all the same.  Wealth, status, power--none of that means anything to God.  To God, each and every one of us is a sinner in need of love and forgiveness and salvation.  And that’s why Jesus came to earth--to offer each and every one of us sinners love and forgiveness and salvation.  God loves each one of us that much.  God loves you that much.  And God loves me that much.

So if you ever think of yourself as a nobody, know that you are not.  Not to God.  To God, you are the most important person in the world.  To God, you are so important that the divine Son of God came to earth to die so that your sins could be forgiven.  To God, you are so important that God offers you the chance for eternal life.  And all you need to do is accept it.  All you need to do is accept Jesus Christ as your Savior.

Society said Cleopas and his companion were nobodies.  Sometimes it seems like society says you and I are nobodies, too.  But Cleopas and his companion were incredibly important to Jesus.  And so are you.

 

Love Is a Promise

The message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday morning, April 24, 2022.  The Bible verses used are John 21:15-25.

So Jesus has been resurrected.  And as we said last week, the disciples were happy about that, but at first, they really did not know what that meant.  Eventually, though, Jesus appears to them, proves who He is, and spends some more time with them.

In our reading for today, Peter gets the chance to talk to Jesus by himself.  And as you heard, Jesus asks Peter three times if Peter loves him.  

It’s commonly thought that the reason Jesus asked three times is because, when Jesus was arrested, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times.  And that could be true—I’m not saying that it’s not—but the Bible does not tell us that.  The Bible does not give any explanation at all for Jesus asking the question three times.  It just tells us that he does.

            As far as we know, this is the first time since Jesus was resurrected that Peter got to have a private conversation with Jesus.  In the other appearances of Jesus given in the Bible, there were always other disciples around when Peter saw Jesus.  Here, it looks like it’s just the two of them.  Just Peter and Jesus.

            I wonder what Peter was feeling at that moment.  I mean, again, he’s happy Jesus is alive and all that.  But Peter must have remembered that he’d denied Jesus.  And he knew Jesus must have remembered it, too.  He had to be wondering if Jesus was going to bring it up and what Jesus would have to say about it if He did.  And it seems like Peter would’ve been a little nervous about that.  He knew he had no real defense for what he’d done.  And even though Peter wanted to be in Jesus’ presence, there had to be a part of him that knew he really did not deserve to be.  I’m sure he was hoping Jesus would forgive him, but he also knew he had no right to expect that.  So it seems like there had to be a part of Peter that was a little scared about this.

             I think that’s something you and I can relate to.  Even though we know we need to be in God’s presence, and even if we really want to be in God’s presence, there are times when it’s a little scary for us.  We know the things we’ve done that we should not have done, and we know the things we have not done that we should’ve done.  And we know God knows about them, too.  And it makes us nervous.  We wonder if God’s going to have something to say to us about those things.  And we know we don’t really deserve to be in God’s presence, anyway.  We hope God will forgive us, but we know we have no real right to expect that.  So there sometimes is a part of us that’s a little scared to go to God, too.

            That’s too bad.  We really don’t need to be scared of God.  And Peter did not need to be scared of Jesus, either.  Jesus did not criticize Peter for what he’d done.  He did not even bring it up.  After all, Jesus had known Peter was going to deny knowing him.  We’re told in Luke Twenty-two that Jesus told Peter that Peter was going to deny knowing him.  Jesus did not explicitly tell Peter “I forgive you” because Jesus did not see that there was anything to forgive.  Peter had done what Jesus knew Peter was going to do and Jesus knew why Peter did it.  Things had gone the way they were supposed to go.

            So why did Jesus ask Peter three times whether Peter loved him?  Well, again, the Bible does not say.  But think about this.  Jesus knew He was not going to be around much longer.  He knew He would soon be going back to heaven.  And Peter was the one Jesus had chosen to take over after he was gone.  Remember in Matthew Eighteen, Jesus tells Peter, “You are the rock on which I will build my church.”  Jesus needs Peter to be ready to step up.  And Jesus needs Peter to know that he needs to be ready to step up.

            I hear this conversation going something like this.  Jesus says, “Do you love me?”  And Peter just kind of casually says, “Yeah, sure, you know I love you.”  Then Jesus says, “No, but do you really love me?”  And Peter says, a little more insistently but still kind of casually, “Yeah, really, I just told you.  I love you.”  And then Jesus says, “Yeah, I know what you said, but do you really love me?”  And finally, it sinks in to Peter what Jesus is asking him.  And so this time, Peter really opens up his heart.  Peter says, “Yes!  Yes, Lord!  I really love you!”

            That’s what Jesus needed to hear.  And it’s what Peter needed to say.  You see, Peter had said he loved Jesus before.  And I don’t think he was lying.  I think Peter believed he loved Jesus when he said it.  But I think it was at this moment that Peter fully realized what it means when we say we love Jesus.  I think at this moment, the full impact of loving Jesus, and what it meant for Peter’s life to love Jesus, actually hit Peter full force.

            You see, love, real love, is not just an emotion, although our emotions are obviously involved.  Love is not even just a decision, although we do need to make the decision to love every day.  But love is more than that.  Love is also a promise.

            That’s true in all cases, not just in the case of Jesus.  When we tell someone we love them, we’re not just saying we love them now, in this moment.  We’re also saying we’re going to love them in the future.  Saying “I love you” is saying that I always will love you, no matter what may happen.

            That’s the kind of love God has for us.  That’s the kind of love Jesus had for Peter.  And I think that at this moment, maybe for the first time, Peter realized that this was the kind of love he had for Jesus.  I think that when Peter said, for the third time, “Lord, you know that I love you”, Peter realized that he was making the promise to Jesus that he would always love Jesus, no matter what.  And he was also making the promise that, because of that love, he would do anything Jesus wanted him to do.

            And that was what Jesus needed from Peter.  Jesus was counting on Peter to carry his work forward.  So I think one of the things Jesus was doing when he asked Peter “do you love me” three times is saying to Peter, “Are you ready to take over?  Are you really ready?  I need you to be ready.  And the only way you’re going to be ready is if you really love me.  What I’m asking you to do is not going to be easy.  If you do what I ask you to do, you’re going to go through some really tough stuff.  So I need you to not just kind of love me.  I need you to not just feel a nice emotion toward me.  I need you to be totally committed to me.  I need you to love me enough that you’ll do whatever it takes to build my church after I’m gone.  I need you to promise me that you’ll always love me, no matter what, because it’s not going to be easy.”

            And I think that’s what Jesus does with us, too.  Jesus asks us, “Do you love me?”  And we say, “Yeah, sure, Jesus, I love you.  I come to church, fairly regularly.  I pray, sometimes.  I read the Bible, once in a while.  Sure, Jesus you know I love you.”

            But that’s not good enough.  So Jesus asks us again.  “Do you love me?”  And we say, yes, of course.  I just told you that.  I’m on church committees.  I contribute regularly.  I’ve even invited people to come to church a few times.  You know all that Jesus.  You know I love you.”

            And it’s still not good enough.  So Jesus asks us one more time.  “Do you love me?”

            What’s your answer?  What’s my answer?

            I don’t mean this to be a criticism of anybody.  I know a lot of us do come to church regularly.  We do pray.  We do read the Bible.  Many of us are on church committees and contribute regularly.  Some of us have invited people to church.  And that’s all great.  It’s wonderful stuff.

            But it’s not Jesus’ question.  Jesus does not ask “Do you go to church” or “Do you pray”.  Jesus does not ask, “How often do you read the Bible” or “What committees are you on”.  Jesus does not even ask “How much do you give” or “How many people have you invited to church”.  What Jesus asks us is “Do you love me?”  He asks that to each of you.  And he asks that to me.

            Jesus knows that following him is going to be hard sometimes.  He knows that life is going to throw some tough stuff at us.  Jesus wants us to feel the emotion of love.  And Jesus wants us to make the decision to love.  But most of all, Jesus wants us to make the promise to love.  Jesus wants us to not just say, “I love you now, in this moment.”  Jesus wants us to say we’re going to love Jesus in the future.  Jesus wants us to say, “Jesus, I always will love you, no matter what may happen.  No matter what you may ask me to do, no matter what happens to me.  Even when it seems like everything is going wrong and nothing makes any sense, I will always love you, I will do my best to serve you, and I will always open my heart to you.  Jesus, I really love you.”

            It took three tries, but eventually Peter came to realize that he had that kind of love for Jesus.  Jesus is asking us that question now.  Jesus is asking it of you, and he’s asking it of me.  Jesus is saying to each one of us, “Do you love me?”

            So, what’s our answer?  Do we?

 

 

Doubt and Belief

The Sunday night message given in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on April 17, 2022.  The Bible verses used are John 20:19-29.

            The phrase “Doubting Thomas” is part of our culture.  Even people who have no idea who Thomas was and have no idea where the phrase comes from are still familiar with it.  If someone is a skeptic, if they never want to believe anything, if they always demand more proof, we refer to them as a Doubting Thomas.

            When I read our Bible verses for tonight, though, it always seems to me that Thomas has gotten a bum rap.  Yes, he had doubts, but no more doubts than any of the other disciples.  And yet, we’ve come to read this story as Jesus criticizing Thomas for his lack of faith.  I think when we read the story that way, not only are we unfair to poor Thomas, but we miss a valuable lesson that comes from that story.

            These Bible verses take place on the night of the first Easter Sunday.  In the morning, Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene.  She then told the disciples that she had seen the Lord.

            Now, it’s evening.  The disciples are in a locked room, out of fear of being arrested.  Jesus appears to them, says peace be with you, shows them his hands where the nails had been pounded through and his side that was pierced by a sword, the disciples are overjoyed.  Jesus breathes on them and says “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

            So all the disciples believe Jesus is alive.  Except Thomas.  He was not there when Jesus came.  We don’t know why not, but he was not there.  The disciples tell him about Jesus being alive, but he says “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

            A week passes.  The disciples are all back in the same locked room.  This time Thomas is there.  Jesus again appears to them, says peace be with you, shows Thomas his hands where the nails had been pounded through and his side that was pierced by a sword.  And Thomas is overjoyed.  

            Do you see why I say Thomas got a bum rap?  What Jesus showed Thomas was exactly the same thing he had shown the other disciples a week earlier.  When Thomas was not there, Jesus had shown the other disciples his hands where the nails had been and his side that was pierced.  None of them believed he was alive before they saw that.  Thomas did not ask for any more proof than any of the others had, and he did not get any more proof than any of the others got.  

And yet, poor old Thomas is the one who gets criticized.  Thomas is the one whose faith is said to be weaker than the others.  Thomas is the one who for two thousand years has been called the doubter, whose very name has been turned into a negative.  It just does not seem fair.

But of course, you know why we look at it that way.  It’s because of what Jesus said.  After Jesus shows Thomas his hands and his side, Jesus says to Thomas, “Stop doubting and believe.”  And then he says, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  It seems like Jesus himself singled Thomas out for criticism.

            But I was thinking about this.  That first time, when Jesus appeared to the other disciples without Thomas--why do you suppose Jesus did that?  I mean, I assume Jesus would’ve known that Thomas was not there.  Why would Jesus choose to appear then?  I would think that there surely must’ve been some other time Jesus could’ve appeared to the disciples, sometime when they’d all be there.  It’s almost like, that first time, Jesus deliberately excluded Thomas.  Why would Jesus do that?

            It could’ve been a coincidence, I suppose.  Maybe this was simply the time Jesus needed to appear to the disciples, and whoever was there was there and whoever was not was not.  I doubt that, though.  It’s possible, but it’s just hard for me to believe that Jesus would leave something like this to chance.  It seems like there must’ve been some reason why Jesus appeared to the others without Thomas being there.

            I wonder if, perhaps, Jesus thought Thomas might have enough faith to not need to see for himself.  I wonder if, maybe, the reason Jesus appeared to the disciples without Thomas there is that Jesus thought that, out of all the disciples, Thomas might be the only one who had enough faith to not need to see for himself.  Out of all the disciples, Thomas might be the one who could believe without seeing.  When we look at it that way, it looks like Jesus thought Thomas was the disciple who had the most faith, not the least.  And Jesus’ words to Thomas are not so much a criticism as they are an expression of disappointment.  Not that it was wrong for Thomas to want to see for himself, really.  It was just that Jesus was hoping Thomas had enough faith to not need to.

            But here’s what I think is the real point.  Jesus appears to the disciples without Thomas.  They all believe.  Thomas does not.  So what does Jesus do?  Jesus comes back.  He comes back specifically for Thomas.  Jesus comes back specifically so that Thomas can see and believe.

            Think about that.  The twelve disciples were down to eleven, of course, because Judas had betrayed Jesus.  Ten out of the eleven believed.  That’s ninety-one percent.  Pretty good.  But Jesus was not going to settle for that.  Jesus wanted each and every one of his disciples to believe.  He was not going to give up until each and every one of his disciples believed.  As long as there was even one who did not, he was going to do whatever it took to make that one believe.  Each and every one of his disciples was that important to Jesus.

            And each and every one of us is that important to Jesus, too.  Because most of us have doubts at one time or another.  We may try to hide them from others, we may try not to think about them ourselves.  But we still have them.  It may seem like everyone around us believes, and we’re the only one who doubts.  But we still have those doubts.  We might wish we did not have them--for all we know, Thomas may have wished he did not have them.  But the doubts are still there.

            Jesus does not want us to go on with our doubts.  Jesus wants us to believe.  And Jesus is not going to give up until we do.  It does not matter if everyone around us believes and we’re the only one who has doubts.  Even if we were the only person on earth who had doubts, that would not matter to Jesus.  As long as there’s just one of us who does not believe, Jesus is going to do whatever it takes to make that one believe.  Each and every one of us is that important to Jesus.

But the thing is, you’re not the only one who has doubts.  Lots of us do.  Some of the greatest Christians in the world have confessed to having doubts at one time or another.  Mother Teresa said she had doubts.  Billy Graham said he had doubts.  A lot of us are in the position of the man Jesus talked to in Mark Chapter Nine.  A man asked Jesus if he could heal his son.  Jesus says what do you mean, if I can?  He says, “Everything is possible for one who believes.”  And the man responds, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

            We believe, and yet we don’t.  We believe, and yet we have doubts.  And Jesus understands that.  He understood the disciples’ unbelief.  He understood Thomas’ doubts.  But Jesus did not want them to stay in unbelief and doubt.  Jesus wanted them to believe.  And Jesus did everything he could to help them believe.

            It would be nice if Jesus would appear right before us, just as he did with Thomas and the other disciples.  And of course, Jesus could do that.  But for most of us, it probably won’t happen.  That does not mean, though, that the Lord has abandoned us.  If we look around us, we can see God at work in all kinds of ways.  And if we look at our own lives, we can see God at work in all kinds of ways, too.

            I don’t know what those ways are for you.  Here are just a few of them for me.  God was at work when, coming out of law school, I took a job in Pierre rather than one in Laurens, Iowa.  God was at work when, without us even knowing each other, Wanda took an apartment directly across from mine.  God was at work when, out of the blue, we got a call offering us the chance to move to Wessington Springs.  God was at work when, through a series of events that would take too long to go into now, we felt God calling us into the ministry.  And I believe that God was at work when the Dakotas Conference sent Wanda and me to this parish.

            If you think about your life, I suspect you can think of those moments, too.  Those moments when God was at work in your life.  Those “coincidences” that just all lined up perfectly for things to happen the way they did.  That’s God at work.  That’s Jesus doing whatever it takes to make each one of us believe.  That’s Jesus saying to us what he said to Thomas.  “Stop doubting, and believe.”

            So, it’s okay if we have doubts.  But let’s not stay stuck in our doubts.  Let’s look for all the times in our lives when God has shown up.  Let’s look for the times when God is showing up now, leading us and guiding us.  Let’s look for all the ways Jesus is saying to us “Stop doubting, and believe.”

            Our doubts are real.  But God is more real.  If we trust God, and if we look for the ways that God is at work. God will give us the faith to overcome our doubts.

 

The Realities of Life

The Sunday morning message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, April 17, 2022.  The Bible verses used are Luke 23:50--24:12.

            Jesus of Nazareth was dead.  There was no doubt about that.  The Roman guards had seen him die.  So had all the onlookers.  Including His mother, Mary, who was there at Golgotha.  Jesus of Nazareth was dead.  Dead as a doornail.

            One of his disciples, John, was also there.  He was with Mary.  He had seen Jesus die, too.  And then, eventually, he and Mary left.  John made sure Mary had somewhere to go, somewhere safe, somewhere she’d be cared for.  Then he left, going to where he and some of the other disciples had been staying.

            They just kind of sat around.  No one said much.  Someone said they’d heard that a member of the council, Joseph, of Arimathea, had taken charge of Jesus’ body.  They’d heard of him.  He seemed like a decent enough sort, for a councilman.  At least he’d give Jesus a decent burial.  It was not much, but at least it was something.  There did not seem like there was much anyone else could do.

            The next day, of course, was the Sabbath Day.  No one was doing anything, as was appropriate.  But even if it had not been the Sabbath, no one probably would’ve done much.  No one felt like doing anything.  Jesus was dead.

            They’d put so much hope in Him, you know?  They’d been convinced that He was the Savior.  They’d seen Him work miracles.  They’d seen Him drive out demons.  They’d even seen Him bring someone back from the dead.  They’d heard all the words He’d said, words that seemed like they could only come from the divine Son of God.  Jesus had referred to God as His Father.  And Jesus was a descendant of King David.  And Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey, claiming the kingship.  It seemed like He had to be the Savior.  It had seemed like there was not even any reason to dispute it.  

            And now He was gone.  Stone cold dead.   They tried to read the scriptures.  They tried to say their prayers.  But none of it really worked.  All they could think about was Jesus.  And they thought about what they’d done, or failed to do.  Should they have done more?  Should they have stopped it somehow?  Should they have stayed with Jesus, been arrested with Him?  Should they have died with Him?  So many questions, and no answers.

            They tried to remember the things Jesus had told them.  He’d talked about how he’d be killed, but they had not really believed it.  Not that they thought Jesus was lying or anything.  It just seemed so impossible.  They tried to remember some of the other things, about loving their enemies and things like that, but none of it sunk in.  They just were not able to think about that, not now.  All they could think about was that Jesus, their friend, their leader, the One they thought was the Savior, was gone.

            The Sabbath came and went.  The next day, they got up early.  No one had been able to sleep much anyway.  Someone started to make some breakfast.  No one was hungry, really, but they knew they needed to eat something.  And they knew they had to find some way, somehow, to move on.  They did not know how they would do that, and they really did not even particularly want to.  But they knew they needed to, somehow.  They had no other choice, really.  So, they started in.

            Suddenly, some women came running in.  They recognized them, of course.  There were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, some others.  The disciples knew they had planned to go out to Jesus’ tomb, to prepare Him for burial.  When they first saw the women, they thought maybe they’d come to tell them the preparation was completed.

            But instead, the women were excited.  Agitated.  It took a while before the disciples could really even understand what they were saying.  But eventually they got the story.  And some story it was, too.   The women claimed that they’d gone out to the tomb, and the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.  That was unusual enough–those stones were big and heavy.  But then, the women said that when they’d walked into the tomb, it was empty!  Jesus was not there!

            But that was not all.  The women said there were two men there, in shining clothes.  They told them that Jesus had risen.  And they quoted the words Jesus had said, “The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again.”

            The disciples did not believe the women.  They wanted to, probably, but how could they?  They’d had so much hope in Jesus, and then seen it all go for nothing.  They were probably afraid to get their hopes up again, for fear that they’d be disappointed yet again.  But Peter at least said he’d go out to the tomb to check things out.  And he saw the tomb.  He saw the strips of linen, the strips that had been wrapped around Jesus’ body when he was put in the tomb.  But that was all he saw.  There was nothing else to see.  Other than the linen strips, the tomb was empty.

            And maybe you’re thinking, come on, get to the point.  Because we know all this, and we know what comes next.  We know that, eventually, Jesus appears to the disciples.  He proves to them that it really is Him, and there is great rejoicing.  As there should have been, of course.

            But none of that happened on Easter morning.  On Easter morning, everyone was wondering what had happened.  And even if they believed that Jesus had risen from the dead, they did not know just what that meant.  They did not know that they would see Him again.  For all they knew, if Jesus had defeated death, He had simply gone back to heaven to be with God the Father.  I mean, that’s awesome news for Jesus, and I’m sure they were happy for Him.  But still, they were faced with figuring out how they were going to go on.

It seems like a lot of the time, we want our faith to be nice, simple, and easy.  And sometimes that’s especially true at Easter.  We don’t want to deal with hard questions on Easter.  We don’t want to deal with uncertainty and doubt on Easter.  We want to come here, see the lilies, hear that Jesus is risen, and then enjoy the day with our family.  That’s what Easter is supposed to be, right?

            And there are times when I’d like that, too.  But the trouble with a nice, simple, easy faith is that it does not help with the realities of life.  And that’s what the disciples were dealing with on that first Easter morning–the realities of life.

            Those realities include loss.  They include doubt.  They include fear.  They include questions.  They include wondering what God is doing.  They include dealing with times when it seems like everything you were counting on has been taken away.  They include feelings of guilt.  They include feeling like you don’t have a clue what’s going on.  They include trying to figure out a way to carry on without someone you had thought would always be there.

            The disciples were dealing with all that and more on that first Easter morning.  And you know what?  We deal with all of that, too.  We deal with it on a consistent basis.  I suspect all of us have dealt with all of those things at one time or another.  In fact, I suspect that some of us are dealing with some of them now.  Our faith in Jesus will not take those realities away, any more than the disciples/ faith in Jesus took those realities away for them.

            But here’s the good news.  Jesus did come back.  He did prove to the disciples that it really was Him.  And the disciples did figure out a way to carry on and move forward.  Jesus showed them that way.  And Jesus blessed them.  And with that blessing, the disciples were able to find the way to move forward.  And they were able to move forward with confidence, knowing that Jesus was with them and would always be with them.  They might not be able to see Him, but they knew He was there.  And they knew that, if Jesus was with them, they could do anything.

            When we deal with the realities of life, Jesus will do that for us, too.  Jesus will remind us of who He is.  He will show us the way to move forward.  And Jesus will bless us.  And with Jesus’ blessing, we will move forward.  And we’ll move forward with confidence, knowing that Jesus is with us, just as Jesus was with the disciples.

            We may think we want a nice, simple, easy faith.  Maybe that’s what the disciples wanted, too.  But Jesus gave them so much more than that.  And Jesus gives us so much more than that.  Jesus gives us a faith that enables us to deal with the realities of life and move forward.  Even when we might not want to.  Even when we’re not sure how.  Jesus gives us a faith that says, I am with you.  I will show you how.  I will help you get through everything you’re going through.  And I will, when the time is right, take you to be with me in heaven.  That’s what Jesus did for the disciples.  And that’s what Jesus does for us.

            It may not be the easy way.  But it’s the Lord’s way.  And it’s the best way.

 

Human Nature

The message given on Good Friday, April 15, 2022 in the Gettysburg United Methodist church.  The Bible verses used are Luke 23:1-46.

            One of the problems with hearing Bible stories that we’ve heard several times before is that, eventually, that’s what they become.  Stories.  Like a mystery novel or a romance story.  Something that’s interesting, but something that does not actually seem real to us.  But they were real.  They happened to real people in a real place.  In this case, they happened to Jesus in Jerusalem.

            The events we’ve heard about tonight happened on Jesus’ last full day of life on earth.  Think about what this day was like for Jesus.  He wakes up, knowing what the day is going to bring.  Maybe he did not sleep very well, thinking about it.  He knew things had to happen this way–he said so himself, many times.  But it’s one thing to think about something that’s going to happen at some point in the future.  It’s another thing to be face-to-face with the reality of it.  

            He had determined to go through with it, of course.  But that did not make it any more pleasant.  He knew what was going to happen–the betrayal, the arrest, the abandonment, all of it.  It would not be an easy thing to face, even for Jesus.

            The disciples came to Jesus, asking him what he wanted them to do to prepare to eat the Passover meal.  Jesus tells them what to do, and they do it.  And the next thing we’re told, it’s evening.  

What do you suppose Jesus did during the day that day, his last day of life on earth?  What would you do, if you knew it was your last day of life on earth?  

Did he spend some time with Mary, his earthly mother?  We’re told that Mary was there at his crucifixion, so she must have been in Jerusalem.  He almost certainly spent some time in prayer, talking to God the Father.  Did he think about what he might say to the disciples, to prepare them for what was going to happen?  Last night we read what we called Jesus’ Farewell Address to his disciples, which covers about four chapters of the gospel of John.  Maybe he was planning that out.  Maybe he was thinking about how he was going to tell the disciples that one of them would betray him.  Maybe he wandered around Jerusalem, taking one last look at everything.

Whatever he did, eventually evening came.  And Jesus tells the disciples straight out, “one of you will betray me.”

We’re told that the disciples were very sad when they heard that.  I don’t know that I ever thought about that before, but does that not seem like kind of a strange reaction to you?  I mean, I’d have thought that they’d be shocked.  Or outraged.  Or angry.  But no, they’re simply very sad.

That tells me that the disciples maybe had more of an inkling of what was going on than we sometimes think.  They knew the authorities were after them.  They knew things were coming to a head very soon.  And now, they knew how it was going to happen.  It was going to happen because one of them would betray Jesus.  Of all the ways for things to end.  To have it end that way, with one of them betraying Jesus.  It was, indeed, a very sad thing.

And it’s also interesting how the disciples respond next.  Each of them asks Jesus, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

That tells me a couple of things.  One of them is that they did not know, at this point, that Judas would be the one to betray them.  They don’t even appear to have suspected him.  Because no one says, “Is it Judas?”  They don’t ask, “Is it Andrew?” or “Is it Philip” either.  They simply ask, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

What that tells me is that each of them thought, deep down, that there was a chance that it might be them.  None of the disciples, not James, not John, not even Peter, was a hundred percent sure that they would not be the one to betray Jesus.  Which raises the question:  had Judas not betrayed Jesus, would one of the others had done so?  We don’t know, obviously.  But none of them was sure it would not be them, so we cannot be sure about it, either.

And when you think about it, in a way, it was every one of them.  We did not read this far, but when Jesus was arrested, all the disciples ran away.  None of them stood by Jesus.  None of them was willing to be arrested with Jesus.  Everyone deserted him.  They all betrayed Jesus to one extent or another.

It’s something for us to think about.  Because, you know, none of us likes to think of ourselves as Judas.  We all want to think, if we had been there, that we would never have betrayed Jesus.  But they all did.  Even Peter, who swore that even if everyone else fell away, he would not, did.  So if all of them did, there’s probably a good chance that you and I would have, too.

But here’s the thing.  After Jesus tells them one of them will betray him, and knowing that all of them will desert him, Jesus then goes on to offer them what we now call Holy Communion.  He says words that are very similar to what we will say when we share in Holy Communion in a little while.  We’re told that, “Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’   Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”

Jesus offered that bread, and that cup, to everyone.  He offered his body, and his blood, for everyone.  He offered the forgiveness of sins to everyone.

And that “everyone” includes Judas.  After all, there is no indication that Judas had left.  It certainly appears that he was still there.  Jesus offered the forgiveness of his body, and his blood, to Judas.  Knowing exactly what Judas was going to do, knowing exactly when and how and why he was going to do it, Jesus still offered the forgiveness of his body and his blood to Judas.  Jesus offered salvation and eternal life to Judas.  And he offered it to all the other disciples, the ones who would abandon him, as well.

Does that mean Judas went to heaven?  Well, I don’t know about that.  Jesus said, in our reading for tonight, “woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”  That certainly does not sound promising for Judas.  On the other hand, we’re told that our salvation is not dependent on our goodness, but on our faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior.  Jesus even said to one of the men who was crucified with him “Today you will be with me in paradise.”  Is it possible that, before he killed himself, Judas repented of his sins, asked for forgiveness, and proclaimed his faith in Jesus?  The Bible does not tell us that, but it does not specifically tell us that he did not.  Ultimately, of course, what I think about this does not matter–this is a decision for God, not for me.  But I do think it’s possible.

 But what that should do for us is give us hope.  Because, as we said a couple of weeks ago, we all have a little bit of Judas in us.  We all betray Jesus on occasion.  Not in the way Judas did, obviously.  But have you ever been a little disappointed in God?  Have you ever been upset with God?  Have you ever felt like God let you down?  Have you ever failed to trust God as much as you should?  Have you ever tried to tell God what to do, and then questioned or doubted God when God did not do it?  I suspect most of us, maybe all of us, have done at least one of those things, maybe more.  And when we have, we’ve betrayed Jesus.

But even so, Jesus still offers us Holy Communion.  Now don’t get me wrong, taking communion does not guarantee that we have salvation and eternal life.  It’s not a get out of jail free card.  But it is one of God’s means of grace.  It is one of the ways God’s Holy Spirit comes into our hearts.

Just as he did with the disciples, Jesus offers the bread, and the cup, to everyone.  Jesus offers his body, and his blood, to everyone.  Jesus offers forgiveness to everyone.  Jesus offers salvation and eternal life to everyone.  Including Judas.  Including Peter.  Including you.  And including me.

As we move into our time of sharing in Holy Communion, let’s think about all this.  Let’s think about the fact that Jesus offers salvation and eternal life to everyone.  Even to those who betray Him.  As long as we are alive, it is never too late to repent of our sins, to ask for forgiveness, and to receive salvation and eternal life.  Jesus offers his body and his blood, to allow us to be saved.  Let’s accept His offer.  Let’s truly accept Jesus Christ as the Savior.